Events

Open Farm Sunday

Sunday 10th June 10am - 4pm

On Sunday 10th June we will be one of hundreds of farms all over the country who will be opening their gates to the public for LEAF Open Farm Sunday. As the farming industry’s annual open day, it offers a fantastic chance for people to discover real farming at first hand and see for themselves how their food (and much more besides) is produced. It is also a great way for farmers to shine a light on what they deliver and why supporting British farming matters.

At the Apricot Centre we will be offering a wide range of activities that include wellbeing and farm tours, rainbow walks, clay trolls and farm produce cooking for the children in our farm club area. You will be able to visit our cows Daffodil and Damson as well as our chickens. There will be the chance to chat with the farmers, horticulturalist and therapists who use the 34 acre farm site. There will also be a range of produce for sale, cakes to eat and the chance to buy shares of the farm. So pop on your wellies and your sun hat and head over to us at Huxhams Cross Farm , Rattery Lane, Dartington TQ9 6AA. Entry is free, car parking is limited, opening times 10am - 4pm.

The Flow Partnership @ Huxhams Cross Farm Water Festival

Thursday 21st June

Getting to Know Water; A Whole Farm Approach.

The Flow Partnership is a UK based NGO, working with partners to rejuvenate landscapes and counter the increasing threat of floods, droughts, soil erosion, habitat loss at their source. They provide a crucial link between communities, government, business, scientists and landowners, empowering local communities to implement simple, low-cost landscape measures as part of an informed, holistic, catchment-based strategy. We are delighted to work in collaberation with them as part of the Water Festival on Thursday 21st June

We will be running an event for 50 people called Getting to Know Water; A Whole Farm Approach.

When thinking of the farm as a closed loop ecological system, as we do in both a biodynamic and permaculture farm system that is found at Huxhams Cross, farm Dartington, water plays a vital role not only for health of the farm crops, the social side of the farm and the for the biodiversity, and also the impact of the farm on the community around it. Marina and Simon will lead a discussion around the design of water systems on the farm for these purposes and then facilitate an interactive exercise on the observation of water phenomenon. Having completed this exercise Marina and Simon will lead a walk to the farm and see the Apricot Centre's work in progress. This includes rainwater harvesting, irrigation, wet flowering meadows, seasonal springs, streams and areas of flooding.

Simon Charter BSc, MEd, has followed a path through materials science, farming, reedbed sewage systems , artistic work ,water sculpture and landscapes to become interested in the morphology and geometry of natural form and water flow. He is inspired by Henri Bortoft, Theodor Schwenk, and Lawrence Edwards among others and works with the research methodology of Goethe and Steiner. Simon has worked with the Apricot Centre to design the water system on the farm.

Marina O'Connell BSc Hort, MEnv, Is director of the Apricot Centre Huxhams Cross farm, Dartington, she is a horticulturist with 30 years of experience in sustainable food production and permaculture design. She has designed and runs the new Biodynamic farm on the edge of the Dartington Hall Estate.